Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Just as we all are starting to enjoy our beautiful green lawn after a long winter, we are all noticing that weeds are popping up everywhere. Do not despair! Instead read this blog to finds out some homemade and cheap ways to control nasty weeds on your lawn

1. Homemade Vinegar mix for weeds

In light of my recent discussion of nasty chemicals on grass, you can imagine that I was excited to see this simple recipe to make my own, non-toxic weed killer spray:

8 cups (2 litres) white vinegar

1/2 cup. (50ml) salt

4 tbsp (50 ml) dishwasher liquid

Dissolve the salt in the vinegar, and then add 2 tbsp of liquid dish detergent. Store this in a labelled spray bottle.

Pour in spray bottle, mix gently and spot spray each weed. May harm grass so only spot spray directly on weeds.

2. Liquid Dish Detergent

Make a soap solution of 1 part liquid dish detergent to 10 parts water. Soak weeds with this mix.

3. Boiling Water

Plug in the kettle, bring it to a boil then pour the hot water over weeds (you’re basically cooking the weed to death).

4. Lemon Juice

Either use straight lemon juice or try 1/2 cup lemon juice mixed with 1 quart household vinegar. This works much the same way as straight vinegar, but lemon juice is more expensive. I would only use this if I had more lemon juice on hand than I knew what to do with.

5. Corn Gluten Meal (this is different than corn meal)

This is an all-natural weed and feed product that deter weeds spreading by seed. This is Effective on crabgrass, dandelions, curly dock, knotweed, lambs quarters, pigweed, plantain and other weeds. This can be used on lawns, flowerbeds, bulb beds and vegetable gardens.

Some other Tips for Weed Control

Many natural remedies and weed killer products will not only kill weeds dead, but they may also kill surrounding grass, plants and flowers. When using a recipe, make sure to apply to the weed only (keep in mind that liquids will saturate and seep into the ground where roots from favoured plants may be able to reach).

Use weed killers when there’s no sign of rain for at least a day or two, hot sunny weather will give you best results.

For weed control in gardens and flower beds, consider laying newspapers and mulch in and around your plants–the weeds will have a difficult time rooting and spreading.

Weed growth is greatly reduced when using the “No Dig” method of gardening The idea is to make a foundation of compost/mulch then only use soil where you plant (make a hole in the mulch, stick a handful or two of dirt inside then plant the seedling).

Did you know: Many weeds are used in home remedies for all sorts of things and some are even edible and tasty! For example, dandelions can be used to make a delicious syrup, wine or jelly, while plantains can be crushed and used to reduce itching from mosquito bites or relieve pain from bee stings. Take some time to research the weeds in your area and you may find some pretty clever ways to make them useful–you may just decide to let a few weeds live and flourish in certain parts of your yard.